I’m heading home from an eight-day, action-packed vacation in Alaska. Hiking, biking and sea-kayaking, I saw snow-capped mountains, the largest ice field in North America, a couple of glaciers, countless bays and rivers, abundant and beautiful wildflowers, salmon swimming upstream, bald eagles, seals, a sea otter, marmots, a porcupine and bears (three!) – all in one corner of the state, the Kenai Peninsula. But what really impressed me was the women. There are surely more women who call themselves feminists on New York’s Upper West Side than there are in, say, Anchorage. But women in Alaska — at least the ones that we met – are plenty strong and self-reliant. Of the 199 runners who completed the grueling Crow Pass marathon this past Saturday, twenty-eight were women. I

The plastics industry is dealing with a nightmare these days when it comes to potentially toxic chemicals. Because so many people no longer trust big business or federal regulators to protect them and their health—perhaps with reason, perhaps not—companies are vulnerable to campaigns by activist groups, politicians and trial lawyers who want to get alleged dangerous toxics off the market. The latest example: Bisphenol-A, the chemical used in polycarbonate bottles, including baby bottles, and in the linings of aluminum cans and in many, many other products.I’ve spent a fair amount of time—more than I’d intended to—looking into the controversy around BPA. The result is a column that was posted today on fortune.com and cnnmoney.com. The FORTUNE websites is also running a video

There’s no doubt that buying and eating local food is a hot trend. But is it good for the environment? Recently, I got a press release from Wal-Mart saying that Partnerships with local farmers have grown by 50 percent over the past two years—one example of the company’s efforts to support local economies, cut shipping costs and provide fresh food offerings. For the 4th of July, a Wal-Mart Supercenter in DeKalb County, Ga., featured Georgia-grown Vidalia onions for burgers, Georgia cantaloupes and watermelons for fruit salad and Georgia peaches for cobbler, the company said. Meanwhile, Chipotle Mexican Grill reports that it has stepped up its efforts to buy local produce. The fast food chain says it is the first and only national restaurant company committed to buying local

One of the great things about the environmental movement is that it provides cover for those of us who are, shall we say, prudent about spending money. You can probably guess where I’m going here. Now, when I tell my wife that, no, we don’t really need to turn on the AC even though it’s 78 degrees outside, or when I urge my daughter to spend just a little less time in the shower, or when I cringe at the way we waste food in our home, I am no longer a skinflint or cheapskate. Seizing the moral high ground, I am now the guardian of our family’s carbon footprint. Unfortunately, there are times when my intention to be “green” and to be frugal come into conflict–which brings us to my new car. I’m not into cars, to say the least. I have been perfectly happy with my 1994 Volvo

The easy way to do corporate philanthropy is to write a little check to everyone who asks. Many companies operate this way–$5,000 to the Boy’s Club, $5,000 to the YMCA, $5,000 to the local cancer society or heart association. This is mostly a feel-good exercise, performed, it must be said, with other people’s money. Today’s Sustainability column at fortune.com and cnnmoney.com is about GE, and the company efforts to be strategic in its corporate giving. I met Bob Corcoran, who runs the GE Foundation, on a trip to Ghana in 2004, and had a chance to see GE’s health care initiative in action there—the company donated medical equipment, a generator, money and lots of expertise to a hospital in rural Ghana. Last week, Bob and I had a chance to catch up when he was in

Some exciting news today from Mars, the giant candy maker: The company is going to spend $10 million to decode the genome of the cacao tree. The goal is to guarantee the company a long-term supply of chocolate, improve the livelihood farmers and help preserve the environment in the tropics where cacao trees grow. “This is the dream of a lifetime for a plant breeder,” Howard Yana-Shapiro of Mars told me, over the phone from Rome, where he is attending a meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organization. “And especially for someone who’s interested in sustainability.” Howard spoke at FORTUNE’s Brainstorm: Green conference in April. If you were there, you noticed him—he was the friendly guy with the long white beard that stretched down to his belly. He’s a fascinating and

Who’s the most powerful person in the world of green business? It might be Jeff Immelt, ceo of General Electric, with its far-reaching eco-magination iniative. It might be Lee Scott, ceo of Wal-Mart, which is greening the world of consumer products. You could make an argument for John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins who with his pal and partner Al Gore aim to make Kleiner the leading venture capital firm for clean energy. Others have clout, too—Washington politicians, the leaders of the big environmental groups, pundit Tom Friedman of The Times. But the most powerful of all might turn out to be someone whose name you probably don’t know: Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber. Al-Jaber is chief executive of the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (ADFEC), which was created by the government of Abu Dhabi

I continue to be impressed by the scope and seriousness of the sustainability work being done at Wal-Mart. The company is reaching deep into its supply chain to try to wring out waste and develop “greener” products. They’re planning a major push around environmental and social issues this fall in China. All important, interesting stuff. Last week, I interviewed Matt Kistler, WMT’s senior v.p. for sustainability, at the inaugural Greener by Design conference. He’s an affable guy with a real passion for environmental issues. I’m joking, though, when I call him the “sustainability czar”—it’s just the opposite. WMT is driving better practices in the company through “sustainability networks” that are organized around products and themes. There are networks for the

I’ve never been a fan of the Hallmark Holidays. So please forgive me if I come off as churlish when I saw that we—meaning the fathers of America—don’t have much to celebrate on Father’s Day. Here’s the problem. Most American men aren’t very good fathers. Most American women aren’t very good mothers, either. I say this not to critique family life in America. I’m not expert on how we rear our children in the privacy of our homes. Instead, I want to make a larger point—that as citizens and consumers, we are at best neglecting and at worst abusing our children. Strong language, I know, but bear with me. Our neglect of our kids is most evident when you think about the issue of climate change. But it’s also demonstrated by the way in which, as a society, are dealing

Public interest groups need more scrutiny. So a forthcoming book called Green Inc: An Environmental Insider Reveals How a Good Cause Has Gone Bad (Lyons Press) by a journalist and activist named Christine MacDonald piqued my interest. MacDonald argues that big green environmental groups – specifically Conservation International (where she worked briefly), The Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Fund — have become too cozy with corporate America. The big conservation groups are “deforming themselves,” engaging in “questionable practices” and cultivating “unsavory corporate ties,” she writes. They are conflicted because they take corporate money. They are too quick to provide cover for bad actors: Groups that once dedicated themselves solely to saving pandas